A report on the development and evaluation of a booklet entitled Growing up with asthma - a guide for parents

Abstract

Asthma is a problem that affects approximately two to five per cent of all children and accounts for one-third of all chronic conditions in children under the age of 17 and represents one-fourth of all days lost from school. The child’s intellectual and emotional growth is disrupted and causes immeasurable personal grief and it also exerts a considerable strain on the life of the family. -- There is clearly a need for education concerning asthma and a booklet was selected as the best strategy for communicating to the largest possible number in the most effective manner. -- The booklet was designed with its broad objective being to help parents learn to understand asthma and be able to prevent or control acute attacks. -- Through implementation and dissemination, parents would have a constant reference that could be read and studied carefully when they are not under stress. This should reduce the number of times they must rush to the emergency department or have their child absent from school. -- The booklet was produced following thorough analysis of needs, intended audiences, and a delineation of tasks and objectives. Formative evaluation was conducted following completion of the text and the feedback resulted in a number of alterations. Following production, the completed booklet was summatively evaluated through the implementation of two evaluation methodologies.